RUTLAND (AP) — A former Addison Northeast Supervisory Union elementary school teacher has been sentenced to three years in prison for possessing child pornography.
Twenty-nine-year-old Will Parini of Starksboro, a former music teacher at Bristol Elementary and at Robinson Elementary in Starksboro, pleaded guilty to the charge in October and was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Rutland last Wednesday.
Federal prosecutors say court records show Parini traded images of child pornography through email with a person in San Antonio, Texas, in August and September of 2010. The U.S. Attorney’s office says he distributed about 200 images and received about 19 during the two months.
The schools’ principals have said there was no evidence indicating any children at the schools were involved.
According to the Burlington Free Press, Chief U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss urged Parini to enroll in the federal sex offender treatment program during his 35 months in custody. She said he would be better received in the community when released if the public knew he had completed treatment.
“It’s an egregious industry,” Reiss said.
Parini told the judge he would rather be jailed at a low- or minimum-security facility, where such treatment is not available, but defense lawyer Peter Langrock asked for a few days to consider their options.
Parini will serve five years of supervised release after his prison term and may have no contact with children without an adult present, except for his family, the judge ordered.
Before the sentence was imposed, the Free Press reported that Parini offered an apology to his former students, wife, family and friends for betraying them. Regarding his students, he said: “I feel horrible about leaving them.”